Usage. STRATA, historically the plural of STRATUM, is occasionally used as a singular: The lowest economic strata consists of the permanently unemployable. Less frequently, a plural STRATAS occurs: Several stratas of settlement can be seen in the excavation. At present, these uses are not well established, and they are condemned in usage guides. STRATA may eventually become part of a group of borrowed plurals that are now used as singulars in English, such as agenda and candelabra, but it is not yet in that category. See also agenda, criterion, media, phenomenon.

stratum — ► NOUN (pl. strata) 1) a layer or a series of layers of rock. 2) a thin layer within any structure. 3) a level or class of society. DERIVATIVES stratal adjective. USAGE It is incorrect to use strata … English terms dictionary